MakingWaves - News From the Division of Water

In This Issue: 

• Long Island Sound Topics to be Featured in National Coastal and Estuarine Summit 
• Black River Watershed Conference to be Held Virtually This Fall
• Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Notifications and DEC Activities that Focus on HABs
• New York Project Receives Chesapeake Bay B-WET Grant

Long Island Sound Topics to be Featured in National Coastal and Estuarine Summit 

This year’s National Coastal and Estuarine Summit will be held virtually September 29 - October 1. The event is organized by Restore America’s Estuaries. Long Island Sound topics will include: monitoring nitrogen levels in Long Island Sound and its embayments and tributaries; emerging trends concerning hypoxia (depleted oxygen levels) in Long Island Sound; and innovative methods to restore tidal wetlands.

For more information and to register, visit Restore America's Estuaries summit webpage. 

Black River Watershed Conference to be Held Virtually This Fall

The Tug Hill Commission, DEC, and partners will celebrate 10 years of Black River Watershed Management Plan implementation at the Black River Watershed Conference beginning September 29. They will share the successes highlighted in their Black River Initiative: 2010-2020 project report. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about and share feedback on issues that face the Black River and its watershed. Register online for this virtual event. 

Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Notifications

Visit NYHABS, DEC’s harmful algal bloom notification map, to view locations of freshwater HABs in New York State that were reported in the past two weeks. Click on a dot for more information, including the date it was reported, the waterbody name, and pictures. Click on the arrow at the bottom of the screen to view a list of reported HABs.

Know it. Avoid it. Report it.

If you see a HAB, please use the reporting form to submit a report to NYHABS.  

Because waterbodies may have HABs that have not been reported to DEC, we recommend avoiding contact with floating mats, scums, and discolored water.

If you, your family, or pet have been in contact with a HAB, please rinse with clean water and report any symptoms to your local health department.

DEC Activities That Focus on HABs

DEC manages many programs that: measure and report water quality; identify, investigate, and control pollution sources; and develop strategies to address water quality threats in New York. DEC activities that focus on HABs include:

• Integrating with the agency’s ambient water quality monitoring programs
• Developing and supporting the implementation of prevention and mitigation strategies to reduce the impacts of HABs
• Collecting data and information related to HABs
• Compiling and interpreting near–real-time monitoring and surveillance information through the New York Harmful Algal Bloom System (NYHABS)
• Administering several ongoing research projects
• Coordinating with New York State Department of Health, additional state and federal agencies, local authorities, nonprofit organizations, academic partners, and others

Communicating information about HABs serves to inform the public’s recreational choices, which can help protect public health. Thousands of people visited DEC's HABs webpages and NYHABs map this summer. 

For more details about how DEC is addressing HABs, see DEC's Harmful Algal Blooms Program Guide. 

New York Project Receives Chesapeake Bay B-WET Grant

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced the projects to receive the 2020 Chesapeake Bay B-WET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) grants. One of the four projects to receive a grant is the Otsego County Conservation Association. They will receive $70,080 for its project, “Chesapeake Bay Headwaters Educational Ecosystem.” This three-year project is designed to engage and educate teachers on how to integrate meaningful watershed educational experiences in their classrooms throughout the New York State portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

The B-WET program supports existing, high quality environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new, innovative programs, and encourages capacity building and partnership development for environmental and place-based education programs.